


Darkness

by siluria



Series: Of Monsters and Men and Hell Between [3]
Category: Chronicles of Riddick Series, Doom (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Crossover, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-13
Updated: 2012-07-13
Packaged: 2017-11-09 21:49:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/458825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siluria/pseuds/siluria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Despite the pleasant hum in his head Riddick's not sure which side Reaper's on, but he's determined to make sure the UAC never find out about him, one way or another.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Smallfandomfest](http://smallfandomfest.livejournal.com) on Livejournal, the prompt being Reaper/Riddick, Alone in the dark.
> 
> Many thanks to [taibhrigh](http://archiveofourown.org/users/taibhrigh/pseuds/taibhrigh) xx

It’s pitch black, and the only sound in the resulting silence is the soft pat of the blood that drips from Riddick’s ulaks to the floor by his feet. If he strains his hearing he can also hear the beat of Reaper’s heart across the room, the rhythm slowing as they both come down from the fight with what Reaper calls imps, and what Riddick has yet to name beyond _them_. Monsters and parasites would describe their creators as much as the beasts themselves, and to Riddick’s mind they all need disposing of.

The general public have no idea what the UAC are doing, and he can only be thankful that despite questionable ethics, the UAC is at least aware that their creations are a plague. One day their security will fail though. Riddick fully intends to stop them before that day comes. And his methods leave no room for mercy.

A creak of leather breaks into his thoughts and he turns his attention to where Reaper has started to move across the room to the exit. Riddick doesn’t know what to make of him. That early warning he gets when the monsters are around is dulled when he looks at the other man; dull and yet soothing rather than the sharp edge that screams danger. It’s not just that though. He feels Reaper’s anger as if it was his own, and Riddick hasn’t worked out yet if the feeling of intrigue and comradeship is his or Reaper’s.

He’s only seen the monsters, created by man, and Riddick knows that Reaper is neither man nor monster, but he doesn’t know how or why. Riddick’s silver eyes watch him dodge a fallen girder as easily as if the room was floodlit with sunlight, and a sudden realization makes Riddick’s blood go cold. The UAC isn’t looking to make monsters, they’re looking to create the perfect soldier. And they succeeded.

He steps around the fallen imps and follows Reaper down the corridor to where the other man is forcing open a set of steel doors with his bare hands. UAC’s soldiers would be machines – stronger, faster, heightened senses, capable of healing quickly, and in the field they’d know where the rest of their unit was with that feeling in their heads. Riddick suddenly needs to know what UAC are planning for, whether it’s defence or attack.

His grip tightens around the handles of his ulaks as he watches Reaper slip into the room and start to tear at the panels that house the power cells for the building. Riddick’s not sure now which side Reaper’s on. With the explosives he’s laying out it’s clear he’s going to blow the facility to hell, but Riddick now needs to know if this is under UAC’s orders, or if one of their soldiers has gone AWOL.

Reaper finishes laying his charges and pulls out a detonator from his belt. With a few clicks, each of the red lights on the charges flashes green and Reaper’s heading his way.

“We’ve got five minutes to clear out, so I suggest heading for the front door.”

Riddick lets him lead the way, easily matching the fast pace Reaper sets through the corridors of the darkened facility. They reach the elevator shaft that will lead to the access level, and Riddick reluctantly sheaths his blades so he can climb the wires. The climb is long and tough, but any burns the wire puts into the palms of his hands heal before they become a problem, and they’re out of the front door and into the tree line with plenty of time to spare when the explosives go off.

Riddick’s not looking at the explosion though, not like Reaper is. The flare of light would momentarily blind his unprotected eyes, so instead he watches Reaper as the glow of the flames highlights his features. Riddick’s hit with a sudden feeling of want that he regrets the second Reaper’s eyes turn to him. He remembers the feeling of Reaper’s anger, and knows that he’s just broadcast his desire to the other man.

“Don’t,” Reaper growls, as Riddick reaches for one of his ulaks, and Riddick’s surprised when it’s enough to make him pause. “I’ve got a ship three miles over the rise, we’ll have that talk then you can decide what you want to do.”

Reaper waits for Riddick’s nod before he’s moving, Riddick following the fast pace as they weave through the trees. At best Riddick’s going to get some answers and a way off this rock, because he doubts the research vessel he’d stolen from the slam when he escaped will be in one piece after the blast.

It’s only a matter of minutes before Reaper leads him to a clearing. There are no ships in sight and Riddick’s wary again, until Reaper presses a button on a data-recorder and a small, sleek two-man cruiser shimmers into view. He follows Reaper into the ship and slouches down in the co-pilot seat watching Reaper store away his gear.

“The UAC set up a base on Olduvai when the archaeological teams started to unearth evidence of a previous settlement,” Reaper says before slamming the door shut on a storage compartment. Riddick sits up a little.

“They found that the previous inhabitants were humanoid but had engineered a synthetic extra chromosome that made them stronger, more intelligent, able to eradicate disease and heal injuries. UAC decided they wanted to replicate it.”

Reaper drops into the pilot seat but makes no move to ready the ship for departure, and so Riddick turns his seat to face him.

“They went through various trials, tweaking and perfecting because the chromosome never took to any subject, human or animal. Until they thought they’d got it right. They managed to finally get a human specimen to take on the extra chromosome, something they called C24. It produced the increased strength, but not the ability to heal. They fiddled with it and tried again but this time the subject mutated into something they couldn’t control.”

“Imp?” Riddick asks, even though he knows the answer.

Reaper nods. “It got out, started to turn people on the base. I was part of a Marine unit sent in to gain control back, but by the time we got there the entire facility had been turned or was dead. We weren’t there long before they broke out and got into the town.”

“So UAC burned the planet to the ground to stop them,” Riddick growls.

Reaper’s head drops, and his knuckles of his clenched hands are turning white. “My sister worked out that C24 doesn’t turn everyone. She had this idea that there was some chemical reaction in the brain that determined whether you’d turn into one of the imps…”

“Or turn into you.” Riddick’s leaning forwards, now he realizes that Reaper is exactly what the UAC has been aiming for. He wonders if the UAC know, and he has to force himself to ignore the voice in his head that screams at him to destroy the evidence, to destroy Reaper.

Reaper raises his head, and Riddick can see the wariness in his eyes as he sits back in the pilot’s chair. “I was dead anyway, and she was the only one left alive. If it failed it wouldn’t have made any difference, if it worked there was a chance we could stop any of them getting off the planet.”

“So you’re one of the UAC’s super-soldiers.”

Reaper snorts and a wry smile splits across his face. His reaction is enough of a surprise that Riddick sits back in the chair, his hand drifting towards his blade.

“If they know who I am, I’d be surprised. They don’t know I exist. They don’t know that their little experiment worked, and I’d like it to stay that way,” he says, suddenly sobering. “If they know that it worked even once…”

Riddick knows they’re still trying anyway, the facility on this rock was enough evidence of that, but he can see Reaper’s logic. If all you do is fail, then you’ll stop one day. If you know that something worked, the hunt for perfection will go on. Thing is, he can’t see the UAC stopping anytime soon. When they walked into the slam on Crematoria they must have known that nothing was going to survive outside the slam’s walls if it escaped and that was why they chose that place. If Reaper’s right then they’ll continue to test on prisoners, people that won’t be missed, those that will always mutate. 

Not for the first time, Riddick wonders why he didn’t fully change into one of them. He’d thought about it at the time and settled on his determination to fight and survive, but if Reaper’s right, then there’s something about him that stopped the mutation fully forming. Reaper doesn’t have silver eyes, nor does he have the same muscular bulk that Riddick does, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have Riddick’s strength or vision. Reaper’s not going to turn. Riddick suddenly wonders if he still could, and it’s not something he intends to let happen.

“So what’s the plan?” he asks, after the silence has hung heavy for long enough.

Reaper stares at him for some time before Riddick starts to feel a sense of peace wash over him. “Well, I intend on stopping the UAC before they wipe out any more planets. I took enough of their data from Olduvai to know where they have bases. I need to make sure that there are no more imps, and no scientists to make them. That means getting rid of a few facilities and wiping some research.”

Riddick likes that idea. He’s not used to working with someone else, but he’s got an equal in Reaper, someone he doesn’t have to protect and that won’t stand in his way. But Riddick also sees someone the UAC would love to get their hands on should they ever find out that Reaper exists. Riddick could try to convince himself that he's going to stick around because he's the only one who knows the truth about Reaper, that he might have to be the one to destroy the other man rather than let the UAC get a hold of him. But Riddick knows even now that if that day comes he won't be able to swing the blade. That flare of desire is back again as he looks at the other man, it's something he can't control, and when Reaper’s lips twitch into a smile, Riddick realizes Reaper knows he’s got company for his journey.

“So where are we going next?” he asks.

Reaper grins and spins his seat to the console, starting to fire up the ships systems. “There’s a planet in the M-344/G system, uninhabited, but I think the UAC has been playing with more than just human genetics if the report on the raptors is anything to go by.”

Riddick’s own grin turns feral. Oh yeah, he can get onboard with this.


End file.
